Alleged bashing near English Bay

A West End gay man says he was kicked in the balls in an alleged attack that “came out of the blue” near the bus stop at the corner of Davie and Denman Sts around 6 pm Nov 15.

Steven Quine, 64, says as he approached the bus stop, he saw two men come around the stop and head up Davie St away from Denman, followed by another two men.

“I was looking down actually and the second couple of guys that came out, there was one big tall fellow and he was walking on the inside and as he passed, he just kicked me in the balls very hard,” alleges Quine, a 10-year resident of the area.

“I bent over and I said, ‘What the fuck,’ and they didn’t say a word to me or stop or do anything,” Quine continues. “They just continued walking slowly up Davie St. I called after them and I said, ‘I’m calling the police.'”

Quine says at that point one of the men walking with the man who allegedly kicked him turned around and looked at him but said nothing and continued walking with the other three up Davie.

No homophobic remarks were made, says Quine, adding that all four remained silent throughout the entire incident.

He says he’s not able to describe the men in great detail because of the darkness but says he assumed the four, whom he believes are between the ages of 20 and 25, were together. He also alleges his attacker was about six feet tall and wore a loose, grey jacket.

Quine says he went into the Starbucks nearby and got one of the employees to call the police who arrived on the scene within four to five minutes.

“The police came and they took all [the] info I could give them and said they had units looking out for these guys already,” Quine says. “They told me that that kind of an attack is a lethal blow,” he says, adding that they said that it was “as bad as getting a kick in the head.”

“They wanted me to go to the hospital,” he adds, but says he didn’t need to go.

Quine says there needs to be a more visible police presence on Davie itself, adding that bashings in the area have become “more and more apparent lately.”

“I feel that there are probably so many cases like this that nobody bothers to report on top of all the things that are reported,” Quine says. “Something has to be done. Davie St is my neighbourhood. I should be able to walk freely through it,” he insists.

Quine says as far as he knows, police have not arrested anyone in connection with the incident.

Up to press time, Xtra West’s repeated attempts to get an update on the case from the Vancouver Police Department proved unsuccessful.